The Journey

This address was delivered by Reg Clairs (Group Managing Director, Woolworths Limited) at the ARLN Conference 1997 in Albury, NSW. 

Reg Clairs joined Woolworths in 1965 as a trainee in Perth, Western Australia.  ln 1979 he was appointed State Manager for Western Australia followed by a 1983 appointment of General manager Marketing in Sydney and during that appointment the “Fresh Food People” concept was created.  He has been influential in the development of many strong relationships between Woolworths and their suppliers, particularly in the area of Fresh Foods.  In 1987 he was appointed as General Manger Queensland. In early 1994 Reg was appointed to his present role of Group Managing Director and became Chief Executive Officer in November 1994.  He previously chaired the Agribusiness Programs Board and was a member of the Agri-Food council and is now Chairman of the Australian Supermarket Institute, a foundation member of the Prime Minister's “Supermarket to Asia” Strategy Council and a board member of the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation of Queensland.

THE JOURNEY

For there to be future for this country and its people - of the kind we might wish to create, there needs to be awareness in today's society of where we are and where we may like to be. Sir Winston Churchill wrote on the occasion of his 75th birthday:

“What will separate the leaders of tomorrow from the leaders of today; will be their ability to manage change.

To lead in a world of crumbling traditions and inadequate institutions.

To understand the world not only as it is, but as it may some day be.”

Those words of so long ago are just as, if not more, important today.

We do live in a world of crumbling tradition - we see evidence of it every day. There are many inadequate institutions, bypassed in the passage of time and, most importantly, we do need to manage change to take us from the world we have today into the one that may some day be.

And to do that, we must have a vision, a clearly defined vision of how we would wish to be, so we may plan the action required to get there.

I would like now to give two examples of what I mean. The first being one very familiar to me - the Company I represent, the second is a much higher vision for Australia.

To demonstrate what I mean, let us cast our minds back some 12-15 years ago and recall what shopping for the weekly needs involved.

Groceries were essentially bought on price. Retailers all vying for market share with weekly specials, pages and pages of them, in the West Australian newspapers seeking the attention of the consumer.

Meat was bought from our favorite butcher. Sides of lamb or forequarters of beef were regular purchases, broken down, taken home and stacked into the freezer.

Fruit and vegetables were often acquired on a Sunday drive or at our favorite veggie shop. And in each commodity there was a tendency to stock up on the specials, to fill the pantry the fridge or the freezer to last a week or more.

As we entered the 1980s a new trend started to emerge. An awareness of health and diet was forming in the minds of our consumers and fresh was starting to overtake price.

It was at this time that our Company, which was failing to combat price operators and not delivering in the perishable and fresh areas, realised the need to change.

So we researched the market to understand our world as it was, and how it may some day be. We researched our customers and our competitor's customers. We asked our staff, suppliers, shareholders and non-shareholders what their opinion was - how they all perceived us.

The picture was not a good one. We were seen as followers, not leaders. We were seen as systems driven, not customer driven, and generally perceived as a lacklustre organisation.

At the same time we sought to understand what it was that consumers desired, what were their expectation in their weekly needs for food shopping.

Slowly the picture emerged, like a giant jigsaw puzzle. They wanted wholesome, fresh food. They wanted clean, hygienic stores, they wanted convenience and, most of all, they wanted to be served by happy motivated staff.